NAS vs Nettop+Ext HD?

[michaellychu]

Hi,

I had a Synology CS-406 before and sold it due to its slow performance.
Now that I've survived myself with just an external HD without any protection on my family pictures, I guess it's about time we invest in a backup system again.

A 2-Bay off the shelf NAS would be my first choice, perhaps a Synology 209/210j. However, the price for a Nettop (with Atom N330/2GB RAM/ION/HDMI output/e-SATA port) has fallen alot so I am thinking if buying a Nettop + an enclosure with 2 H.D.D (could be hardware RAIDed or just use software RAID) would be better in terms of?

1. Price/Performance ratio
2. Expansion (could always just add additional storage via e-SATA/USB)
3. Features (Synology firmware vs Windows) available

Anyone can let me know what's your thoughts on this?

BIG Thx.
Michael

 

[thiggins]

A Nettop could certainly meet your needs as a general networked backup device. Just be careful about expecting it to support RAID on the external drives. Also the eSATA port (if it has one) might not support SATA multipliers, i.e. multi-drive enclosures.

 

[Blexley]

http://www.foxconnchannel.com/Product/Barebones/NT330i/index.html#

http://www.gadgetfolder.com/foxconn-netbox-nt330i-nettop-with-atom-330-and-ion.html

No good for Raid or E-sata but for a single drive NAS the new cheap barebone Foxconn Netbox nT330i has caught my attention.But i'm going to wait for a few reviews before i invest in one as it's only been out for a couple of weeks and seems abit cheap for a Dual Atom with ION.

You can see from these pics it's tiny and looks smaller than a Acer Revo.

http://www.foxconnchannel.com/Product/Barebones/NT330i/images/330i-Antenna02.jpg

http://www.gadgetfolder.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/foxconn-netbox-nt330i-nettop-2.jpg



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